Brau Supply

[TexasWine]

The manual seems to focus a lot more on wiring it up and a lot less on actual operation.

I downloaded the Auber control manual. It's pretty easy to decipher once you spend a few minutes with it.

Here's all I really try to remember for brew day. Hold down the up button to change the temp set point. Hold down the left button to switch to manual mode.

I don't really need much beyond that unless I'm calibrating the temp probe or doing an auto tune, which doesn't happen mid brew anyway.

 

[TexasWine]

After watching several videos on YouTube about the 120V 15amp 5 gallon Unibrau system, I'm leaning towards pulling the plug and making the jump from extract to E-BIAB with one.

You won't regret it. I did one extract beer before going all grain. I wished I had immediately jumped to an eBIAB system, but instead fiddled around with stove top brewing for a while. When I had a boil over one brew and melted the knobs on the stove top the next, I knew it was time to graduate.

 

[Michigan_Wolfman]

Yeah, the more I look at the set up, the more I want it! I emailed Brau Supply last night about the availability of the 30 plate chiller option listed with the 5 gallon kit. When I clicked on the tab to add it to the options so I can get an idea of the total cost, it says they are out of stock, but I did notice that a 20 plate chiller is available over on the accessories page. If the 20 plate does an alright job cooling down 5 gallons of wort, I may just go ahead and order one to go with the rest of the kit.

 

[Michigan_Wolfman]

Just thought of something I'm trying to figure out. Do you still have to heat your strike water to 160 degrees or so in order to compensate for the temperature drop from adding your grain bill, or do you just set the controller at mash temp and dough in from there?

 

[whovous]

I just set and forget.

Whereabouts in Jackson do you live? My mother still lives in VCL, though I left in 1971 when I graduated HS.

 

[TexasWine]

Just thought of something I'm trying to figure out. Do you still have to heat your strike water to 160 degrees or so in order to compensate for the temperature drop from adding your grain bill, or do you just set the controller at mash temp and dough in from there?

Yes, you should heat your strike water to some temp higher than your desired mash temp. If you don't do this the temp in the grain bed sags and takes a long time to recover, effectively making a good portion of your mash at a lower temp.

The temp you heat your water to is dependent on the grain bill, which determines your starting volume, and your desired mash temp. 160F might work for some beer recipes, but not others.

 

[Michigan_Wolfman]

Whereabouts in Jackson do you live? My mother still lives in VCL, though I left in 1971 when I graduated HS.

I'm currently living on the outskirts of Munith, or as us locals refer to it, MunithTucky. Greater Metropolitan Stockbridge is just five miles up the road, where about most exciting thing you'll see happen all week is someone at the American Legion Hall polishing the barrel of the WWII howitzer on display out by the road.

 

[Michigan_Wolfman]

Yes, you should heat your strike water to some temp higher than your desired mash temp. If you don't do this the temp in the grain bed sags and takes a long time to recover, effectively making a good portion of your mash at a lower temp.

The temp you heat your water to is dependent on the grain bill, which determines your starting volume, and your desired mash temp. 160F might work for some beer recipes, but not others.

Thanks. I was thinking that was the case, but I wanted some input from somebody that's actually used one.

 

[whovous]

Yes, you should heat your strike water to some temp higher than your desired mash temp. If you don't do this the temp in the grain bed sags and takes a long time to recover, effectively making a good portion of your mash at a lower temp.

The temp you heat your water to is dependent on the grain bill, which determines your starting volume, and your desired mash temp. 160F might work for some beer recipes, but not others.

I have not timed it, but I don't think it has taken temps very long at all to recover when I've made my mash temp my strike temp.

 

[wilserbrewer]

I have not timed it, but I don't think it has taken temps very long at all to recover when I've made my mash temp my strike temp.

While this may be true, the whole point and concept of an automated system is to keep a steady mash temp....mashing low and recovering may work, but it is far from the intended and desired goal.

 

[TexasWine]

I have not timed it, but I don't think it has taken temps very long at all to recover when I've made my mash temp my strike temp.

Next time you brew you should measure the grain bed temp. I think you'll be surprised. I've done several step mashes and it takes a good 15 to 20 minutes to go from 146F to 158F, depending on the grain bill.

 

[Onerow]

Have read the entire thread and am becoming very interested in the system. Have been doing BIAB for about 18 months. I like to do 3 gal batches to the Keg. Maybe 5 gal kettle at end of boil. I assume that the 5 gal kit would be plenty big for brews this size - including higher gravity ones.?

 

[TexasWine]

Have read the entire thread and am becoming very interested in the system. Have been doing BIAB for about 18 months. I like to do 3 gal batches to the Keg. Maybe 5 gal kettle at end of boil. I assume that the 5 gal kit would be plenty big for brews this size - including higher gravity ones.?

It would be plenty big for 3 gallon batches, even high gravity ones. However, I'd email Steven and ask about min batch size. I have the original 36 quart system and it will do a smaller batch. Now it's a 44 quart, so I'm not sure how much water you need to cover the elements.

 

[whovous]

Next time you brew you should measure the grain bed temp. I think you'll be surprised. I've done several step mashes and it takes a good 15 to 20 minutes to go from 146F to 158F, depending on the grain bill.

I confess that I always assumed that if I knew the temp of the wort passing continuously circulating through the grain bed, then I also knew the temperature of the bed itself. That said, it makes sense that the greater mass would take longer to come up to temp, so I will restore the higher strike temp to my process. It is surprising just how much that process keeps changing, in one small or large way after another.

 

[Michigan_Wolfman]

Have read the entire thread and am becoming very interested in the system. Have been doing BIAB for about 18 months. I like to do 3 gal batches to the Keg. Maybe 5 gal kettle at end of boil. I assume that the 5 gal kit would be plenty big for brews this size - including higher gravity ones.?

Here's what it says on the Brau Supply webpage.... We use our standard 11G kettle and set it up for 2 elements. This allows you to brew your standard 5 gallon batch size, and in under 4 hours using 2 of our 1500W elements.

 

[BroomVikin]

I'm not sure how much water you need to cover the elements.

If I remember correctly it's somewhere between 1½ and 2 gallons to cover the elements. I'm not sure though just how much water you'll need to cover your grain completely.

 

[Onerow]

It would be plenty big for 3 gallon batches, even high gravity ones. However, I'd email Steven and ask about min batch size. I have the original 36 quart system and it will do a smaller batch. Now it's a 44 quart, so I'm not sure how much water you need to cover the elements.

My last batch had 12 lb of grain and with all water required in the kettle and it came to 8.5 gal. With dead space I transferred 4.1 gal to the fermenter.
The mini comes std with. 6 gal kettle and 9 gal kettle option which I would certainly need. It would still have just one element though. Would this be plenty power for boiling 5 gal wort?
All questions I should email the company with, but I thought the brain-trust here might chime in first with experience.
Most likely, the price savings between a Mini with a 9 gal kettle vs. a 5 gal kit with a 11 gal std kettle (two elements) would be very little if any.

 

[TexasWine]

My last batch had 12 lb of grain and with all water required in the kettle and it came to 8.5 gal. With dead space I transferred 4.1 gal to the fermenter.
The mini comes std with. 6 gal kettle and 9 gal kettle option which I would certainly need. It would still have just one element though. Would this be plenty power for boiling 5 gal wort?
All questions I should email the company with, but I thought the brain-trust here might chime in first with experience.
Most likely, the price savings between a Mini with a 9 gal kettle vs. a 5 gal kit with a 11 gal std kettle (two elements) would be very little if any.

One element should be sufficient for boiling 5 gallons. I boil 7 gallons with one at full blast plus the PID controlling the other at 20%, so total effective wattage of 1800.

If it were me, I'd go with the 11 gallon and two elements. The price isn't that much more if i remember correctly (maybe $100).

 

[adventurtons]

My last batch had 12 lb of grain and with all water required in the kettle and it came to 8.5 gal. With dead space I transferred 4.1 gal to the fermenter.
The mini comes std with. 6 gal kettle and 9 gal kettle option which I would certainly need. It would still have just one element though. Would this be plenty power for boiling 5 gal wort?
All questions I should email the company with, but I thought the brain-trust here might chime in first with experience.
Most likely, the price savings between a Mini with a 9 gal kettle vs. a 5 gal kit with a 11 gal std kettle (two elements) would be very little if any.

I would email Stephen directly. I was interest in the 9gallon option for the mini but he told me its discontinued and they only offer the 6 gallon and 11 gallon. The website is horribly outdated which I am not sure why. Some of the newer options aren't shown and old ones are still there.

I also asked about min batch size on the 6 gallon since I wanted to do micro 1-2gallon batches. 2 gallon would be fine on the 6 but 1 is a stretch because of liquid over the elements. Also have to factor in liquid when recirculating hoping that the liquid moves through the grain bed properly so as not to not only have the element in no liquid but also the pump.

 

[Onerow]

"The website is horribly outdated which I am not sure why. Some of the newer options aren't shown and old ones are still there. "

I suspected as much. Thanks for the min batch info, Adventurtons.

 

[BroomVikin]

Alright I finally got around to using this thing for the first time today (political season keeps you on the road a lot at CNN!) and I have a few observations/ questions. 1) I way over shot my mash temps. Not sure how it happened since I used Beer Smith and it's always been dead on before. After a few ice packs from the freezer and vigorous stirring not that big of a deal after all. 2) I definitely ran into the "pump drains the kettle faster than the grain bed allows wort to pass back through" problem. I have already ordered a mini ball valve to slow the output of the pump next go 'round and hopefully solve the problem. 3) Lots of foam but I'm attributing this to the fast flow out, slow flow in issue. Strange thing was it was really light fluffy foam and not the dense stuff that seems to have been discussed here. 4) This could certainly be user error but when I set the timer to 9000 on the PID it counts down 100 seconds per minute. This obviously isn't correct. Do I need to calculate how many seconds in a 90 mash/ boil and input that number or is there a setting somewhere to make it jump to 60 seconds after it reaches 00?
All in all I think I'm really going to like it once I get the bugs worked out but it certainly isn't plug and play right out of the box. There's a learning curve for sure.

 

[TexasWine]

Alright I finally got around to using this thing for the first time today (political season keeps you on the road a lot at CNN!) and I have a few observations/ questions. 1) I way over shot my mash temps. Not sure how it happened since I used Beer Smith and it's always been dead on before. After a few ice packs from the freezer and vigorous stirring not that big of a deal after all. 2) I definitely ran into the "pump drains the kettle faster than the grain bed allows wort to pass back through" problem. I have already ordered a mini ball valve to slow the output of the pump next go 'round and hopefully solve the problem. 3) Lots of foam but I'm attributing this to the fast flow out, slow flow in issue. Strange thing was it was really light fluffy foam and not the dense stuff that seems to have been discussed here. 4) This could certainly be user error but when I set the timer to 9000 on the PID it counts down 100 seconds per minute. This obviously isn't correct. Do I need to calculate how many seconds in a 90 mash/ boil and input that number or is there a setting somewhere to make it jump to 60 seconds after it reaches 00?
All in all I think I'm really going to like it once I get the bugs worked out but it certainly isn't plug and play right out of the box. There's a learning curve for sure.

1. Interesting. Never been a problem for me. I have on occasion forgotten to turn off the element before doughing in, which causes the temp to overshoot because you kill the flow to the temp probe when you shut off the pump to do so.
2. Let us know if the valve doesn't fix it. I've started conditioning my malt and that helped a lot.
3. Try putting your return below the surface of the wort. I've never had a foam issue, but it's because I do exactly what I recommended.
4. Not sure on that one as I never use the timer. Brewers Friend has built in timers for the various steps that I use.

 

[whovous]

I've not used the timer for quite a while, as it is easier for me to just set a kitchen timer instead. Still, when I used it, I am pretty sure a ten minute setting was ten minutes long.

BroomVikin,
Deciding when you want to turn off the element, and of course remembering to do so, is one of the most important things to work into your procedure. When you turn off the pump, the temp sensor thinks the temp is dropping and it will crank up the juice if you let it.

Is it possible you are grinding your grain too fine for this kind of set up? I know I've been bouncing between too fine, which can slow or stop flow of wort through the grain, and too coarse, which does not give me the efficiency I want. I also use a hose clamp, but a ball valve is a much more elegant solution, I am sure.

 

[kanno]

Hey, finally got around to recording some of my brewday with the brau supply. I got some footage of the ever menacing 'foaming mash overflow' as well. Here ya go!

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjtZmKXZwbQ[/ame]

 

[ferm.adventures]

I bought a SV240 controller a couple months back, and it worked out great for me for my first time brew session about a week ago. Looks like only the SV240 Pro is available now, and I would have passed on that one. No interest in a mash timer in the device since I have an iPad with beersmith as my timer, which is by far better than one in the controller. If the pro was the only option I would have went with High Gravity or revisited building my own.

Only other comment, is once I got the controller after inspection, I had to "re-wire" the 4 prong plug. It looks like during shipping the plug pulled away from clamping on the outside insulation of the cable. Simple 5 minute task.

I built my own 15 gallon BIAB system, since I had a chugger and hoses already for my 3 vessel system, and I just needed the bayou classic pot, and element hardware. I just had to build a Spa Panel and wire up the pot.

The first brew day the controller was super smooth. I did an multi step mash, and didn't over shoot my temps. I took a little while for the temps to catch up and stabilize in the pot, but I would rather that, than a some of issues I've had with an mypin pid that would always overshoot.

The boil worked well. First time with 240V, and the boil off was a lot more than I expected, but putting the pid in manual mode at 70% power gave a nice steady boil.

Overall, really happy with the controller, only disappointed that it appears to be discontinued.

 

[Michigan_Wolfman]

Nice video kanno. I'm leaning more and more towards buying one myself.

 

[mwm5461]

Just placed my order for the 120V 5 gallon system. I've looked through the thread but just wanted to follow-up regarding the pump cavitation issues. Have most of the system owners found a second ball valve to control the discharge flow to be the solution to this problem?

Thanks!

 

[TexasWine]

Just placed my order for the 120V 5 gallon system. I've looked through the thread but just wanted to follow-up regarding the pump cavitation issues. Have most of the system owners found a second ball valve to control the discharge flow to be the solution to this problem?

Thanks!

Personally I never had a major issue with pump cavitation. I just felt a lot better about having a valve on the discharge of my pump to control the flow. That configuration is standard in my line of work. I can't think of a situation where I would throttle the suction of a pump.

 

[mwm5461]

Personally I never had a major issue with pump cavitation. I just felt a lot better about having a valve on the discharge of my pump to control the flow. That configuration is standard in my line of work. I can't think of a situation where I would throttle the suction of a pump.

So then when you use the pump do you leave both ball valves completely open?

 

[ferm.adventures]

So then when you use the pump do you leave both ball valves completely open?

Probably depends on the pump. I would think with the 24 volt one you can leave it full open always. With a 120v chugger, it's likely unnecessary to leave the valve full open, tho with biab recirculation and that stainless basket, you're not going to run into compaction/vacuum issues.

I've had more cavitation issues when messing with a 3 vessel system rather than with a biab system. But the value after the pump is super convenient if you need to stop the flow quickly.

Here is how I set up my pump for cavitation issues, and to insert a temperature probe if I so choose. The highest "mini" value can be opened to let air escape or insert a thermometer probe with a special fitting.